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NAVAJO WOMAN ASSAULTED BY BIA OFFICERS December 6, 2006 Susan Bates |
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| Navajo tempers are running high
after the assault of 84 year old Rena Babbitt Lane by alleged BIA police
officials. Ms. Lane, who doesn't speak or read English, is one of the longest resisters in the fight against relocation on Black Mesa. She lives alone in her hogan without electricity or running water. The Bennett Freeze, enacted to "encourage Navajo citizens to move off land also claimed by the Hopi, has forbidden any improvements to existing homes on the disputed land. Many Navajos have given up and have moved into towns away from their homes. The separation from their traditional sheep herding lifestyles and their Sacred Places have taken a toll on the People. But a handful of Grandmothers have stayed, enduring the many hardships the US government has dealt them. Their sheep and other livestock have been confiscated. Helicopters have flown over their hogans at night with loud speakers blaring rock music. They are forbidden to make any repairs to their hogans and must walk long distances to carry water in on foot since many of their pack animals have been taken. But now it seems as though the dispute between the Hopi and Navajo has been settled and those brave women will finally be forced to move elsewhere. According to an article which appeared in the Gallup Independent, on November 4, without any warrants in hand, three armed federal rangers broke into Rena Babbitt Lane's home, dragged her from her bed, threatened to beat her with her cane, and forced her to sit in one of their cars while they ransacked her home. During this vicious assault, she suffered a heart attack. And this isn't the first assault she has suffered at the hands of the BIA... Several years ago, she was beaten and suffered a broken hand. Her horses, goats and sheep were confiscated in that attack. Later, her chainsaw and the firewood her son was cutting was taken because the BIA said he didn't have a "permit." But the cruelest loss of all was that of her husband, who died of an aneurysm while trying to carry home water from a capped off well. Denying the Navajo water was just one ploy the government has used to force people into leaving. The BIA denies the men were working for the agency and maintains they were employees of the Hopi Nation. Rena Babbitt Lane was released from the hospital 4 days after her attack. Her fight continues........ <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
It is so very important that we honor our elders
for they are storehouses of knowledge and wisdom. In our society though,
many of our mothers and fathers spend their last months and years in
nursing homes. Even though circumstances often dictate going into a
nursing home, I cannot think of a bleaker way to end my life. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Christmas Treat <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> |
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